The Pros and Cons of Sending Letters
by That Tath
Summary: Just how did Fred and George find out how to use the Mauraders Map? How did they find out that an escaped murderer and their former DADA teacher were their role models? And just what will happen to poor Ron?
1. Using the Map

**Disclaimer: None of it is mine, unfortunately...**

**A/N: It's always annoyed me that you don't know how Fred and George found out how to operate the Marauder's Map. It's also always annoyed me that you don't know how (or if) Fred and George ever found out who the Marauder's were (or maybe JKR did tell you and I've just forgotten it). **

**So I've gone ahead and written my version of these two events. Enjoy!**

"What do you reckon it is?"

"I dunno. I wonder how you work it."

Fred and George were sitting in their temporarily empty dormitory, a piece of old parchment in front of them. Fred was poking it with his wand, hoping that something would happen to it. For a moment, nothing happened. Then letters began forming on it.

_Mr. Moony presents his compliments to Fred and George Weasley and congratulates them for finding this map. _

_Mr. Prongs agrees with Mr. Moony and would like to present his regrets that Fred and George have not yet figured out how to use this. _

_Mr. Padfoot would like to add that Fred and George would most likely be finding out the secrets anytime now. _

_Mr. Wormtail bids Fred and George a good day and advises them not to mention this to anyone else. _

Then the writing slowly faded out, leaving two confused Weasleys staring at where the writing used to be.

XXXXX

Remus yawned and rubbed his eyes, having just been woken up by a shrill whistle. He stumbled out of bed and tried to follow the noise. His ears must have not been working correctly because they led him straight to his briefcase. He stared at it for a moment, wondering how his briefcase could be whistling at him. It finally penetrated his still-sleepy mind that whatever was whistling was inside the briefcase.

Remus opened his briefcase and saw... papers. Now he was really confused. How could his papers be whistling? Remus idly shifted through them, trying to think about what was whistling. It occurred to him that the whistling noise was coming from the lid of his briefcase. Now everything made sense. Remus performed a quick spell and the lid of his briefcase vanished. In its place was a small space, empty save for one thing.

A small Sneakoscope.

Remus smiled and remembered the day the charm was placed on the Sneakoscope. It was getting towards the end of their seventh and final year at Hogwarts and James had brought up a rather puzzling question.

How were they going to let anyone else know how to work the map?

Sirius had been the one to solve the problem. They had placed a series of complex spells on the map. Whenever someone touched it with a wand without saying the right words they would get a little message from each of the Mauraders. If they were potential pranksters, then the message would be rather polite. Anyone else got a rather different message.

Of course Sirius had left a very specific message for Snape...

Another layer of spells had gone on after that; this set was tied to a Sneakoscope that each boy would have. Whenever someone new found the map their Sneakoscopes would whistle, regardless of whether or not they knew the passwords When it was was picked up a message would flash on the side, telling them who had found the map, their "prankster status", their location, and whether they needed the passwords.

Remus was shook from his memories by the whistle, which had just gotten louder and shriller. Remus winced as the noise attacked his sensitive ears and picked up the Sneakoscope.

The message flashed on the side of the Sneakoscope, appearing in a rapid stream of words.

_**Fred and George Weasley**_

_**Pranksters. Potential to perform pranks equal to yours. **_

_**Hogwarts- Gryffindor first years**_

_**Passwords needed**_

Remus grinned. It was good to know that the map had finally been found, especially by people who were likely to use it. He grabbed a piece of parchment and began to write out a message to Fred and George.

_Dear Fred and George Weasley, _

_Congratulations on finding the Mauraders Map! To use the map, simply tap it with your wand and say "I solemnly swear I am up to no good". Remember to clear it after use by saying "Mischief managed". _

_Now the map is in your hands. Use it however you want; pass it on to whomever you wish. But don't let anyone untrustworthy find it! _

_- Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs_

Remus was hesitant to write his friends names at the bottom of the letter. If he hadn't had promised to always sign all of their names whenever he wrote the letter, he wouldn't have done it. After all, why sign for two dead people and one who was locked in Azkaban?

Remus sighed and pushed the gloomy thoughts from his head. He hurried to get dressed. He had to find an owl to send this off to Hogwarts.

After all, two new pranksters needed a bit of guidance.

XXXXX

Fred and George were sitting at the Gryffindor table one Friday morning, about a week after finding the map. They were quietly planning their next prank (something involving quite a few dungbombs). Their only problem was that they were out of dungbombs and they didn't think it was safe to write home asking if their mom could send them some more.

The usual flood of owls came in, swooping down to find the right person before flying off again. Fred and George looked up out of habit, not really expecting to get anything though. However, to their surprise, an old, tired looking owl swooped down towards them and dropped a letter in front of George's plate.

They stared at it for a moment, before George snatched it up and opened it. He read it quickly, his eyes flicking over the words on it. When he reached the end of the letter he grinned and passed the letter on to his twin.

"Excellent." Fred said, setting down the letter and digging through his bag for the Map. He pulled it out and taped it with his wand, muttering "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Thin lines began to spread from where his wand had touched the paper. They wrote the words "_Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers are proud to present The Marauder's Map_" across the top. They fanned out to form a large map of Hogwarts, showing each room, hallways, and what looked like several secret passageways.

Finally, the lines cut off to form tiny ink blots with a person's name next to it. Fred wondered where Filch was; the Map showed the caretaker walking outside the door to the Transfiguration room.

George wanted to see where Percy was. The Map showed his brother getting up from the Gryffindor table, his inkblot overshadowing the many others near his. The Map showed their brother walking directly towards them. George taped the paper with his wand and whispered "Mischief managed."

The Map went blank.

"What are you two grinning about? You'd better not be planning more mischief!" Fred and George turned around to see Percy standing behind them.

"Us? We were grinning?" Fred asked a look of over exaggerated innocence on his face.

Percy looked like he was going to say something, but changed him mind. "Whatever it is, I don't want to know." He muttered, walking away.

George grinned. "No you don't." He said softly. "No you don't."


	2. Finding the Marauders

**Disclaimer: None of it is mine, alright moving on...**

**A/N: After this there will be only two more chapters. Oh and this chapter takes place in the summer before the start of Harry's 5th year, in case you were wondering about a time frame. **

**And I do apologize for the shortness of the chapter. Hopefully the next one will be longer! -wink-**

**kate: Thanks, I'm glad you liked it! After this chapter I'll be doing** **two more. **

"I can't believe we never thought of this before. I mean, we've only been trying to figure it out for how many years now? And we've only just come up with..."

"Shh! Someone's coming!"

Harry and Ron slowly opened the door to Fred and George's room at Grimmauld Place. "Hey do you two want to..." Ron paused. "What are you two doing now?"

Fred and George were sitting at a small desk in the corner, hunched over a piece of parchment. Every once in awhile one of them would grab the quill and start scribbling again, only to have it ripped from their hands so the other could continue writing. Occasionally words would drift back to where they were standing by the door, "Bloody brilliant... find them... mischief makers..." Harry and Ron watched them work for a moment before they finally realized that someone was standing in the doorway.

"Oh hello!" George said in a very happy voice while Fred whisked the parchment out of site. "What are you two doing here?"

"What were you two writing?" Ron asked. "More plans for joke items?"

Fred shook his head dramatically. "Oh no, much more important than that!"

"We have finally come up with a way to find out who the Marauders were!" George said.

This was not what Harry and Ron had been expecting. Ron instantly cracked into a huge grin, thinking about how much trouble his brothers would go through... when the two people standing in front of them already knew the answer. Harry on the other hand was trying to remember if he had ever told them who their former DADA teacher and an ex-convict really were. He thought he had... or was that just a dream...? He opened his mouth to make a comment about that when Ron cut in.

"So you're going to send them a letter?" It was obvious that he was trying not to laugh. "Well, we wish you luck on that, we really do. In fact, why don't you use Pig to send the letter? We'd love to stay, but we really need to be going..." Ron pulled Harry out of the room and closed the door behind them before he started laughing. "Imagine what they will do when they find out who the Marauders really are..."

XXXXX

Less than 24 hours later, Fred and George had sent the letter. They had taken Ron up on his offer and used Pig. Now, all they had to do was wait for the response from their role models. They were actually very optimistic about figuring out the little riddle. But they just had one problem: They weren't getting a response.

They could understand not getting a response during the first week. After all, who knows how far away the Marauders were, or how long it would take Pig to find them? So for the first week they had waited patiently.

During the second week they were more impatient. Shouldn't Pig have returned by now? Where was their brother's small hyper owl? Harry and Ron had to remind them that Pig may already be on his way back, but since they didn't know how far he had traveled, it was impossible to tell when he would return. So Fred and George had sighed and moaned but accepted the fact that it might take awhile for Pig to return.

By the third week Fred and George has given up all hope of ever getting a response. Harry and Ron had given up hope of every seeing the looks on their faces when they found out just who their role models were. And everyone else had given up hope of ever seeing the four of them looking happy again.

Yet all that changed when one morning while Sirius, Remus, Fred, George, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were eating breakfast. Most of them were just finishing off their last piece of toast when a small owl flew into the room holding a letter.

"Yes! He's returned with... the..." George's triumphant cry was cut off as Pig landed on the table... and offered the letter to Sirius and Remus.

**A/N: Oh, how evil am I? So sorry folks, but you'll just have to wait for the next chapter to find out what happens! -grins-**


	3. Explanations

**Disclaimer: None of it is mine... -sigh-**

**A/N: Wow, so sorry for the delay. I know I promised I'd have this up by, what was it- two weeks ago? But anyways, here it is now...**

**Oh, and this story has a slight reference to **_**Puppy!**_** which is one of my other stories. You don't need to have read that one in order to read this chapter though.**

**A Nonny Mouse: -grin- Thanks for the review. It is a rather funny story, isn't it?**

The seven people stared at Pig. Ron and Harry were trying not to laugh at the looks on Fred and George's faces. Hermione was frowning, obviously not approving of the bit of fun Ron and Harry were having at the other's expenses. Sirius and Remus were trying to figure out why Ron's owl was giving them a letter. And of course, Fred and George were wondering how Pig could fail to give the letter to the right people and then return and give the letter back to the wrong people as well!

Sirius reached forward and grabbed the letter, slowly unrolling the scroll. He quickly read it before he started to laugh. He handed the letter to Remus, who read it aloud to the others.

_Dear Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and/or Prongs, _

_First, we would like to thank you for the great help you have been in aiding our "magical mischief making" career during our school years. And of course, we want to thank you for providing the passwords used to operate the map, for without them it would've been useless to us. We could not have done half of the pranks that we have pulled off without the help of your wonderful map. We will forever be in your debt._ (This was the point where choked laughter could be heard from Ron and Harry.)

_We have passed the map onto another student by this time; Harry Potter in fact. However, even though the map is no longer in our possession, we still use the knowledge gained from it every year._ (More laughter from Ron and Harry.) _We have always wondered who you really are, since we know that no one going by your names ever attended Hogwarts. We would greatly appreciate it if we could have your names, even just your first names. _

_Your humble servants, _

_Fred and George Weasley_

Sirius, Ron and Harry burst into loud laughter. Even Remus was smiling at the contents of the letter. Hermione was still looking like she disapproved of the whole matter. And of course, Fred and George were slowly turning bright red.

Remus turned to Sirius, who had finally started to calm down. "Well, at least we know why Pig was giving us a letter." He said. "Although I have to admit, I'm rather surprised that this is the first time that they've tried to send a letter to us..."

Sirius chuckled. "Well Moony, you have to admit that it was a rather brilliant idea. Sort of the thing Prongs would've done- if we had gotten and not made the map... if that makes any sense..."

"None at all Padfoot." Remus said.

Fred and George stared at the two adults. "Wait... so Pig wasn't... and it didn't... and you are... and Moony is... and Padfoot..." They continued to stare. Ron and Harry were still chuckling softly and even Hermione had managed a small grin now.

Remus grinned. "Well, looks like the secret's out." He joked. "Yes Sirius and I are Moony and Padfoot... for what I hope are now obvious reasons." Fred and George nodded; they both knew that Sirius was an Animagus and that Remus was a werewolf.

Sirius picked up the story. "Wormtail was Peter Pettigrew and Harry's father was Prongs." They turned to stare at Harry, who started to look very uncomfortable.

"You... you're related to one of the Marauders!" They said, continuing to stare at him. Harry shifted around nervously, not sure what to say. Fred and George were looking like they were about to worship him and it was starting to freak him out...

Luckily, he was saved from an awkward worshipping moment by Remus. "Yes, the four of us were the Marauders. We used to get into all sorts of trouble- thanks to James and Sirius, of course."

"Hey!" Sirius said, interrupting Remus. "That's not true! What about the time that you pulled that prank on that little Ravenclaw instead of the Slytherin?"

"Yeah, well what about the time you got caught in your Animagus form by a little girl?" Remus retorted. "Or the time you tried to tell Severus to go into the Whomping Willow on a full moon? Or the time you first tried to transform in the dog and you ended up with a tail for two weeks! Or the time-"

Sirius glared at him and luckily he stopped, but not before Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all giggling again. Remus continued talking. "Well, we did a lot more productive things than that."

"Like make the map?" Fred asked.

Sirius grinned. "Like make the map. Took a lot of complicated spells to do it, but after we became Animagi in our fifth year we started working on that. We had it finish by December of our seventh year... just to have it found and confiscated by Filch right before we left."

"Although I guess it is better that way..." Remus said thoughtfully. "We never did figure out how we were going to pass it on to someone else, since they had to touch the map in order for us to find out that someone had it. This was at least someone managed to get it without us having to hand it over."

Fred and George stared at them again. They were starting look like they were going to worship the two adults and now it was Remus's turn to look uncomfortable. They probably would've started their worship then and there is Sirius had casually said, "So Harry, Ron, Hermione- why is it that you've never told these two who the Marauders were?"


	4. You Knew?

**Disclaimer: -sigh- Must we go through this? None of it is mine, okay?**

**A/N: Once again, I must apologize for my lateness in this chapter... I don't have an excuse for you this time though, except I haven't had inspiration for it. So I must apologize, once again, for its patheticalynessish (I don't think that's a word...). **

**Oh, and the part with Hermione's payback... Yeah, you'll get to find out all about that in a fic that should be posted anywhere from a week to a month from now. All you have to know for now is that it involved the clock that likes to shoot bolts at people -evil grin-. **

Fred and George slowly turned to stare at Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They looked surprised, angry, astonished, and annoyed- all at once. "You _knew_?!" Harry and Ron started looking around the room, but Hermione surprised everyone by answering the twins.

"Of course we knew!" She said. Ron stared at her, wondering if she had lost her mind. "They-" She pointed to Sirius and Remus. "Told us everything at the end of our third year. Of course that was mainly because we had the misfortune of being stuck inside the Shrieking Shack when Sirius tried to get Pettigrew."

She went on to explain why exactly Sirius wanted Pettigrew and how Remus showed up. Then she launched into her tale about how the two adults had told them about the map and all about the Marauders. She went on to briefly explain about when Lupin changed into a werewolf, the Patronus, and the Time-Turner. She finished with explaining about the letter Harry got on the train at the end of the year.

When she finished, Fred and George stared at her. "You mean you've known about this for a year and haven't told us!?" They cried.

Harry and Ron continued to stare around the room. Hermione snorted. "Well, I would've told you about it." She said. "But I thought that he-" She pointed to Ron. "Had already told you. Didn't you wonder where he had gotten Pig? And weren't you curious about what happened at the end of the year?"

Ron glared at her. "Now wait just one minute!" He said angrily. "You can't blame this on me! I just told them that we went to see Hagrid about Buckbeak and I chased Scabbers over the grounds. I wasn't about to tell them that I was hanging around with Sirius Black and a werewolf- no offense or anything, you two..." He looked anxiously at Sirius and Remus, who just smiled and told him to continue. "And I wasn't going to tell them where I really got Pig, so I just said that he sort of "attached" himself to me on the train."

"We always wondered how Pig managed to fly into the train in the first place..." George said, chuckling softly. "I mean, what type of person just opens up a window and lets a miniature owl fly into the Hogwarts Express?" The others, with the exception of Ron, started laughing again. Ron just turned a nice crimson color.

"So if you think about it, you should really be blaming Ron for not telling you who the Marauders were." Hermione said. "After all, not only was he the one most likely to tell you about it, he also knew that you wanted desperately to find them." Harry, Sirius, Remus, and Ron stared at her. Why did it seem like she wanted Fred and George to get angry at Ron...?

"Er, Hermione, what are you doing!?" Harry whispered to her. Hermione just grinned and mouthed _Payback._ Harry had to grin at that. Ron was going to regret that little trick he pulled on her...

She turned back to face Fred and George again and leaned in to whisper to them. "You can't just let him get away with not telling you! Just think about how much time you spent trying to come up with a way to figure out who the Marauders were! He could've saved you at least a year of plotting!"

Fred and George started to give their brother a murderous look. Ron gulped. This was not going to be good...


	5. Revenge

**Disclaimer: None of it is mine, okay?**

**A/N: Yes folks, this is the LAST chapter of the story, unfortunately.** **And I know that, chances are, Ron wouldn't be able to see signs of magical pranks, but let's just say, for the purposes of the chapter, that he's had plenty of experience with his brothers and knows how to avoid most of their pranks. **

Ron poked his head out of his bedroom and looked down the hall. He didn't see anyone or anything, but that didn't mean anything. He slowly walked out of his room and inched towards the stairs. He carefully planned each step he took and constantly checked his surroundings for signs of anything suspicious.

He finally reached the top of the stairs a few minutes later. Harry was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, trying not to laugh at his friend. "C'mon Ron, don't tell me you're still afraid of Fred and George's revenge?" Ron scowled at him and began his slow descent down the stairs, once again carefully analyzing each step he took. Harry shook his head and joined Hermione and the twins in the kitchen.

Harry sat down and glared at Fred and George, who started to chuckle softly. They were definitely enjoying their revenge far more than was really necessary. Then again, it had been mostly Ron's fault that they wasted an extra year trying to find the Marauders.

It had been nearly two weeks since Fred and George had finally found out who the Marauders really were. Right now they were mostly spending their time following Sirius and Remus around the house, begging them to describe pranks they had pulled on students and teachers during their stay at Hogwarts.

Yet they hadn't forgotten about their little brother and the fact that they still needed to get revenge. In fact, their plan for revenge was going quite nicely, judging by the fact that it was taking him nearly ten minutes just to walk down the stairs. And when Ron did walk into the kitchen he turned pale and started eyeing his chair nervously. He finally worked up the courage to sit down in his chair, after carefully inspecting it. He then proceeded to check the floor and table for signs of pranks before moving his chair as far away from his brothers as possible.

Fred and George got up soon after he entered the room. As they left they glared and scowled at him, making Ron shrink down in his chair. As soon as they were gone he mumbled, "I wish they would just get their revenge already and leave me alone."

Hermione grinned at him from the other end of the table. "Oh don't worry; their plans are coming along perfectly!" She said before walking out of the room. Harry grinned too and followed her.

"You aren't going to tell him that they aren't planning anything, are you?" He asked.

Hermione shook her head. "And spoil the fun of watching him look everything over before he moves?" She laughed. "Not a chance."


End file.
